The use of organic transition metal ligand complex catalysts is well-known in the art for the addition of a silicon hydrogen bond to olefins, acetylenes, aldehydes and ketones in the hydrosilation process as described by Khan and Martell, Homogeneous Catalysis by Metal Complex, Vol II (Academic Press, 1974), p. 66, and later by Speier, Adv. Organometal. Chem., 17, 407 (1978).
Recent reviews of catalytic hydrosilation using transition metal-phosphorus ligand catalysts were compiled by Brunner et at., Catal. Asymmetric Synth. 1993, 303-322; Tsuji, Org. Chem. 6(2), 95-8 (1993); Marciniec et al., J. Organnomet. Chem. 446(1-2), 15-23 (1993) and Ojima et al., Asymmetric Synth. 5, 102-146 (1985).
However, most ligands described in the aforementioned reviews are phosphine ligands A few examples are presented using phosphites as transition metal ligands in hydrosilation reactions. Recently Buono et al. described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,877,908 and 5,090,077 the use of aminoalkyl phosphinities as ligands for transition metal catalysts for symmetric hydrosilation. However, aminoalkyl phosphites are not disclosed. The use of monophosphites and bisphosphites as ligands for transition metals in hydroformylation reactions are reported by Pruett et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,809 and by Billig et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,717,775; 4,748,261; 5,059,710 and 5,292,785.
None of these references disclose or suggest the instant invention which is a class of novel tris(organophosphite) ligands for transition metals, a novel class of tris(organophosphite)-transition metal complexes and the use of said complexes as catalysts for hydrosilation reactions.